At first glance, this whole idea of Google TV seems like a ho-hum, here comes somebody else to try to make waves in the cable industry. Stand there in line behind Microsoft and TiVo and Apple and all the others who have come before you with limited or no success.
Sure, the surface concept seems shallow and devoid of content and distribution. Sure, the idea of showing today’s Web content on the Internet has been tried before and the audience has never been there. And sure, there is already a moneymaking machine in charge of television, from the broadcasters to the cable channels to the pay TV channels and it’s tough for anybody to throw a stick into the spokes of that well-oiled organization. And sure, it’s a solution that requires yet another box when content can instead be streamed directly from the cloud.
Beneath the surface, though, are a few lingering thoughts: This is Google, this is the age of partnerships, and the very mention of Google TV seems to have been enough to wake Apple TV from its slumber. So maybe there’s something there after all.
Content? Yeah what’s out there now is weak but when you have a pipe the size of Google’s and a potential audience used to tapping the search engine for anything from a word definition to a map to a satellite picture, content providers won’t be aloof. In fact, it seems pretty apparent that content shouldn’t be a problem for Google just as it’s not a problem for satellite and telco providers. Cable channels may come from and go to cable, but their main allegiance is to the almighty dollar and if Google can find a way to monetize its service, there will be multiple dollars to salute.
The likelihood is that Google, with an open platform and an army of eager apps developers will be able to come up with some sort of monetization formula that will draw the likes of broadcasters, cable channels and even existing online content providers like Hulu into the Google TV fold. So figure content is not a problem.
Distribution might be a bigger hurdle. Google has struck a deal with Best Buy so in the worst of circumstances it could have a Google-equipped set-top box or some other device for sale at your local big box store. It’s got a partnership with Sony so it could be included in a variety of Sony televisions. But to really get out there, Google needs to cut a deal with a cable or satellite box maker—Motorola, Cisco and quite possibly Pace—and they have to have the blessing of the service provider to incorporate Google. At that point, perhaps, it becomes Google TV channel, one multifaceted point where Google presents its apps and content and presence amid all the other cable selections. It’s not necessarily what the big boys in the Silicon Valley want, but it would be a workable idea in a cable/satellite dominated space.
Google TV surely looks like another ho-hum play in the video entertainment space until you take that second glance. At that point it looks like either a threat or a new avenue for cable. My guess is it will be a new avenue in an increasingly interactive cable space.
